


Going Broke

by DeepBlueQL



Category: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-28 04:53:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20058328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeepBlueQL/pseuds/DeepBlueQL
Summary: Jack looks at a tie.





	Going Broke

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted November 15, 2006.

Jack stares at the scrap of silk in his hands and for once he loses track of time until the seconds begin to tick in cadence with the clack of Jordan's heels and he finds himself looking up at her smiling face. It shouldn't surprise him, he supposes, after all, she smiles when her life is falling apart, why would she do any different when his is? But, of course, she doesn't know and she's only smiling because she's Jordan.

"Why aren't you wearing your tie, Jack?" She asks, obviously scandalized by the casual and inappropriate manner of his dress, only not, because this is Jordan McDeere and she's the one scandalizing, not being scandalized. 

He stares at the tie in his hands, the one he removed from around his neck. It's the same as almost every tie he owns, except for one crucial difference.

"It's not my tie," he answers in a sharply quiet voice, and he drops the tie as if it offends him, which it does, and turns his weary gaze to her, resolved to reveal no more, even if she pleaded, well, maybe if she pleaded. A curious and concerned expression crosses her face and he hears "good enough" ring from the back of his mind. 

He tells the tale and watches her widening eyes as he recounts finding a tie in his bedroom, putting it on and arriving at work only to realize that the reason it doesn't seem quite familiar is because it isn't, and he just spent the entire morning wearing another man's tie. 

And though he hasn't enough as of late, too busy, too stressed, too tired, Jack knows that the only reason to be in his bedroom is to be with his wife and he wonders if Marylyn did this to get his attention or to get back at him or to get his attention by getting back at him. 

He looks at Jordan and smiles, ironically, because he's forgotten any other way to smile. He's been accused of a crime he hasn't committed. Well, not actually accused because the formal charges haven't been laid against him, but he is a lawyer, and he knows it is only a matter of time. 

And he'll be convicted too, because judge, jury, and executioner, known everywhere else in the world except L.A. as friends, family, and boss, have already decided his guilt long ago. 

So, Jack decides to go for broke since that seems to be where he's headed once everyone is through with him anyways, and he stands, startling Jordan and catching the surprised "oh" of her mouth in a sweetly harsh kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
